Recent Updates
- Belgium: BNB Business Survey (Jun)
- UAE: Central Bank Balance SHeet, Foreign Assets, Monetary Aggregates, Monetary Base (May)
- US: FRB Chicago National Activity Index (May)
- Germany: Gross Wages (Q1), Ifo Business Climate (Jun), Tax Receipts (May)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Existing Home Sales and Prices Increase
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of
existing homes rose 2.5% (-1.1% y/y) during May...
EMU Sector Bifurcation Continues
Services are continuing to move higher boosting the composite private sector index. But manufacturing remains weak...
U.S. Leading Economic Indicators Remain Unchanged
The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic
Indicators held steady (2.5% y/y) during May following a 0.1% April rise,
revised from 0.2%...
Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index Weakens
Considerably
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported that its
General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index declined to 0.3 in June after
May's improvement to 16.6...
U.S. Current Account Deficit Shrinks; Exports Rise and
Imports Fall
The U.S. current account deficit narrowed to $130.4 billion
during Q1'19 from $143.9 billion during Q4'18...
by Tom Moeller July 28, 2005
Initial claims for unemployment insurance did rise 5,000 to 310,000 last week but the increase hardly dented the 32,000 decline the week previous which was little revised. Consensus expectations had been for an increase to 320,000 claims.
During the last ten years there has been a (negative) 75% correlation between the level of initial claims for unemployment insurance and the monthly change in payroll employment. There has been a (negative) 65% correlation with the level of continuing claims.
The four week moving average of initial claims fell slightly to 318,250 (-5.7% y/y), the lowest level since early March.
Continuing claims for unemployment insurance rose 32,000 after a 46,000 decline the week earlier which was deeper than initially indicated.
The insured unemployment rate remained at the four year low of 2.0%.
The latest Beige Book from the Federal Reserve Board can be found here.
| Unemployment Insurance (000s) | 07/23/05 | 07/16/05 | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Claims | 310 | 305 | -8.8% | 343 | 402 | 404 |
| Continuing Claims | -- | 2,603 | -11.1% | 2,926 | 3,531 | 3,570 |
